Couple not happy their engagement photo was used for N.F.L. star’s erotica novel

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If you cannot figure out what a “Gronking” is, you can read between the lines or you can order a copy of Lacey Noonan’s “risqué erotic e-book” A Gronking to Remember and find out for yourself. The e-book is selling for about the same price as a cup of black coffee from Starbucks.

The book bills itself as the first “in the Rob Gronkowski Erotica Series.”

Rob Gronkowski, if you do not know, is a 25-year-old wide receiver for the National Football League’s New England Patriots. The six-and-a-half-feet-tall, 265-pound star caught six passes in the Patriots’ Super Bowl win last season, including 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tom Brady.

Since the close of the football season, Gronkowski has appeared on numerous television shows and is pushing a line of products, including the erotica series featuring his likeness. He appears to be spending his time in a more wholesome manner than former teammate Aaron Hernandez. Gronkowski and Hernandez were both drafted as wide receivers by the Patriots in 2010.

In 2012, Hernandez told ESPN that he and Gronkowski had a lot in common. “We found out we both like to have fun and were a little bit immature,” Hernandez told the sports-news network. Six months later, prosecutors allege, Hernandez murdered two men in a drive-by shooting outside a Boston nightclub. The ex-player was convicted of a separate 2013 murder two weeks ago.

Gronkowski’s off-the-field actions appear to be far more lighthearted. The star has burnished his image as a free-wheeling party animal and goofball, appearing in stints on shows like Jimmie Kimmel Live and SportsNation… and appearing in erotica.

A Gronking to Remember tells the story of “the normally sheepish Leigh,” who wanders into the television room one afternoon and finds her husband “Dan” and friends watching football. Leigh sees Gronkowski score a touchdown and then perform his patented “Gronk Spike,” described as a “notorious monster smashing” of the football.

Witnessing the “Gronk Spike,” of course, “jettisoned jiggling ribbons of electric jelly through” Leigh’s body, and melted her “knees like two pads of margarine.” The book goes on to chronicle Leigh’s lustful dreams about Gronkowski and, well… Gronking.

Leigh is not a real person, but the cover of A Gronking to Remember features a real woman and her husband. The pair, a couple from Miami County, Ohio, allege that their engagement photo was used—without their permission—as the cover art for A Gronking to Remember.

That led to untold amounts of ridicule and shame from people who recognized them, they allege in a lawsuit pending in federal court against the book’s author and companies that have sold and distributed the book online.

While the couple acknowledge that they may have uploaded the photo online, they allege that it “was appropriated by the [A Gronking to Remember] Defendants for commercial gain without the permission of the Plaintiffs.”

At least one online retailer, Amazon.com, has argued that since the book was technically self-published, it had no control over the content and cannot be held liable for the actions of independent third parties. It has also argued that the couple assumed the risk of others using their photo by sharing it online.

If you or someone you know has any questions regarding potential personal injury claims, feel free to contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC in Charlotte, North Carolina for a free consultation. Call toll free at (955) 370-2828 or click here for additional resources.

About the Author

Matthew Arnold is a Managing Member of Arnold & Smith, PLLC, where he focuses on the areas of family law, divorce, child custody, child support, alimony and equitable distribution.

Mr. Arnold was raised in Charlotte, where he graduated from Providence Senior High School. He attended Belmont Abbey College, where he graduated cum laude, before attending law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a full academic scholarship.

A board-certified specialist in the practice of Family Law, Mr. Arnold is admitted to practice in all state courts in North Carolina, in the United States Federal Court for the Western District of North Carolina, in the North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, and in the Fourth Circuit United States Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.

In his free time, Mr. Arnold enjoys golfing and spending time with his wife and three children.